Android bashing anyone?

I was a huge Android basher, and with good reason. The force closes, lags, etc. made me feel I was still on PalmOS. But I recently used an HTC Sensation with a stock ICS ROM and I was truly impressed. Everything worked as it should and I didn't even bother rooting it to get the hotspot working without T-Mobile's permission as well as the BT PAN for connecting to my iPad 3. Unfortunately, even the best Android keyboards on the largest screens aren't as user-friendly as the WP7/8 VKB's. Heck, even the iPhone KB is better on a 3-1/2" screen. Fix the keyboard before MS puts in decent BT profiles and I may have a second look.

I was a huge Android basher, and with good reason. The force closes, lags, etc. made me feel I was still on PalmOS. But I recently used an HTC Sensation with a stock ICS ROM and I was truly impressed. Everything worked as it should and I didn't even bother rooting it to get the hotspot working without T-Mobile's permission as well as the BT PAN for connecting to my iPad 3. Unfortunately, even the best Android keyboards on the largest screens aren't as user-friendly as the WP7/8 VKB's. Heck, even the iPhone KB is better on a 3-1/2" screen. Fix the keyboard before MS puts in decent BT profiles and I may have a second look.

I had an iphone 4s for 6 months and currently own an HTC 8x and a high end Android phone. Swiftkey is by far the best touch screen keyboard ever made and the LG and Sony keyboards are pretty damn close to the IOS and Windows Phone keyboards. The HTC and Samsung ones suck though for some reason. I have no idea why Samsung keyboard sucks since they put a lot of emphasis on software and usually get it right. HTC though, it is HTC so they just suck. I have no doubt in my mind if they were allowed to change the WP8 keyboard they would have butchered it.

Well I had a Lumia 800 for 6 months and was constantly amazed by the number of things it couldn't do that my old E72 and a bottom of the range Android could.

From personalised text tones to being able to edit e-mail before forwarding, being able to set an sms to send automatically at a future time, being able to automatically turn itself to silent when I'm at work or if there is a calendar entry with the word " concert", being able to choose the snooze time, being able to access my online Bank account and any site using Mastercard secure code(as Android browser doesn't stupidly say their certificates are invalid the way Windows browser does)
Oh being able to use BBC iplayer, myplayer, ITV player for all UK television (ok I accept the E72 and cheap Android couldn't but Motorola Razr can)
Being able to set different volume levels for different functions.
And the Swype keyboard!

Lumia 800 was a ghastly phone. I was a loyal customer of Nokia's for around 15 years but we have parted unless they do go Android.
I really hate windows OS, felt like several steps back.

Reading many of these posts I see some have probably gotten a poor example of the Android experience because of the devices they used. Many mid to low end range models which unfortunately you get what you pay for. They have lesser quality processors, bare minimum RAM and basic displays and graphics processors. They make them look impressive with lots of little perks and 3rd party extras and slap the best Android version that the device is capable of handling on it. Many times the limited RAM alone is the killer in this situation as it would be with any platform. Android does like RAM and it likes to use it up to keep flowing smoothly. Carrier/OEM bloatware does suck and many people turn to either rooting their devices to manually remove or getting into the Nexus "Pure Google" phones to get away from bloatware.

Waiting on carrier updates is probably the biggest killer for many.. Google releases the code for its Nexus lineup and then its off to the OEMs to do with as they please. They tweak it and toy around with it a bit and add their custom UI's and bloatware but the biggest hold up is the carrier's and their extensive internal testing that causes the biggest delays.

Android may not be everyone's cup of tea but the same can be said for any platform. Myself I love Android and have owned Palm (webOS) too.. Maybe one day I'll check out a MS/Windows based phone and see if the other side is indeed greener ;)

Paul627g - you make some valid points, but I think the hole in your argument is that people had a poor Android experience because they were using low-end devices. At least prior to Android 4.x (really Android 4.1), just about all Android OS devices provided a poor experience after they were owned for a period of time, regardless if they were high-end or low-end. The difference between the high-end and low-end Android OS devices prior to ICS/JB was how long your smartphone would last before the poor Android experience would set in. In either case, the poor experience almost definitely set in within a year. (I say that last statement based on my experience with my Motorola Droid 2, which was a high-end Android device at the time it was released.)

I agree that before Android 4.0, Android was garbage and only excelled because it was pretty much the only iPhone alternative. However I also think the iPhone wasn't worth it till the iPhone 4. I recently switched from Windows Phone 7.8 (Lumia 900) to Android (Original Note), mainly because of apps that I really wanted to use and couldn't. It seemed like every week or two there was one more cool app I wanted to try and couldn't and I got tired of it. I love being able to use Pandora and Stitcher over my car's radio on my Note. I love having a notification center. Widgets, while not as good looking and organized as live tiles, can convey more information than live tiles. Windows Phone 8 has just as many short comings as Android, they are just different short comings. Neither is absolutely better than the other, it comes down to what an individual needs out of their phone. I'd even throw iOS into that previous statement.

I started using WP phone just very recently, formerly of Symbian, and had used Android for some 2 years. My current WP phone is Nokia Lumia 520, replaced my old Blackberry. Does that mean that I've jumped ship from Android? NO! In fact I am still proudly keeping my Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 and still use it extensively, side by side with my Lumia. I wanted to buy a WP simply because it offers a refreshing looks (the live tiles for instance)...besides, it is always interesting to try something new.

To me personally Android is a quite nice and pleasant OS. It is not flawless though: occasional lags and sudden reboots did happen, but in general I feel very satisfied all Android devices I have had (from Galaxy Tab 2 to my current Note 8), and when someone bashes Android so bad by saying it crappy, laggy, garbage etc, I don't have any idea what he/she's talking about (If Android does look and feel THAT bad, there's no way that sixty per cent or so of world's mobile users who embrace Android could all make terrible mistakes, right?)
In fact, even though I want to love my WP so bad, there is no way I can live without Android, for one simple reason: I am an avid gamer. Needless to say, I want to play games anywhere and anytime I want. That's where Android fills in, where WP ecosystem just can't provide good enough, at least for the time being. and here I don't talk about the likes of Angry Birds or Temple Run. We're talking about the PS Vita/3DS-style, best-looking games to ever grace mobile screens, whose presence we only see minimal in WP Store, but abundant in Apple's App Store and Google's Play Store..
I couldn't help but wondering why major publishers seems reluctant in releasing their sophisticated games in WP platform, while they are flooding the competitions. Day after day we'd see games are "available now on IPhone/Ipad and/or Android" - the formula would usually be, Iphone/Ipad version comes first, then followed by Android ones. WP one, if any, usually comes last, or otherwise, is skipped entirely.

See? I don't see any point in bashing Android. It fills the gap where WP is unable to reach. But also there is such place WP gets where Android could not match. Why not take the best from both? Neither is anywhere near perfection.

My thread's a few below this one, you can read my story there.
I don't feel like I'm endlessly bashing the platform, I have just had a very negative experience, and it seems that many others have too.
WP time soon, can't wait! :D

I had a couple of Android phones on Virgin Mobile. It's been a while so they were clair and Froyo. OMG they drove me crazy. Weird reboots and such fairly frequently. Even though I liked Virgin Mobile, it saw no indication that they were going to get a Windows Phone so I jumped ship. I bought a new HTC HD 7 (however it had been released a year and a half earlier) and moved it to T-Mobile's old 100 min $30 plan.

I'm still running that HTC HD7 after a year and a half. I used a 810 for a little while but bought it during the period were you could hand it back in via the Washington State Attorney General case, and did exactly that. I can't (in reality, can) tell you how much more stable Windows Phone is than my old Android version phones were. Oh, I miss some of the apps and some of the customization, but no I will not go back to an Android phone.

I will likely buy a Nexus 7 tablet at some point as I wouldn't mind keeping my toe in the Android ecosystem. So I am not an Android "hater", I simply will not use Android on a phone...

Tomorrow I get an HTC 8x to update my HTC HD 7. Welcome back to Windows Phone 8. With luck I'll be able to sleep tonight....

just one question ... Why do you need so many devices on you do you carry around a backpack like the woz haha .. Just stick with wp8 because it is blowin up .. And will soon get all of the apps you need

The wait for features and apps on WP is too long with no confirmation in sight whether are not you would get the feature/apps you are looking for, I too bought a nexus 7 for the same reason.

I started using WP phone just very recently, formerly of Symbian, and had used Android for some 2 years. My current WP phone is Nokia Lumia 520, replaced my old Blackberry. Does that mean that I've jumped ship from Android? NO! In fact I am still proudly keeping my Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 and still use it extensively, side by side with my Lumia. I wanted to buy a WP simply because it offers a refreshing looks (the live tiles for instance)...besides, it is always interesting to try something new.

To me personally Android is a quite nice and pleasant OS. It is not flawless though: occasional lags and sudden reboots did happen, but in general I feel very satisfied all Android devices I have had (from Galaxy Tab 2 to my current Note 8), and when someone bashes Android so bad by saying it crappy, laggy, garbage etc, I don't have any idea what he/she's talking about (If Android does look and feel THAT bad, there's no way that sixty per cent or so of world's mobile users who embrace Android could all make terrible mistakes, right?)
In fact, even though I want to love my WP so bad, there is no way I can live without Android, for one simple reason: I am an avid gamer. Needless to say, I want to play games anywhere and anytime I want. That's where Android fills in, where WP ecosystem just can't provide good enough, at least for the time being. and here I don't talk about the likes of Angry Birds or Temple Run. We're talking about the PS Vita/3DS-style, best-looking games to ever grace mobile screens, whose presence we only see minimal in WP Store, but abundant in Apple's App Store and Google's Play Store..
I couldn't help but wondering why major publishers seems reluctant in releasing their sophisticated games in WP platform, while they are flooding the competitions. Day after day we'd see games are "available now on IPhone/Ipad and/or Android" - the formula would usually be, Iphone/Ipad version comes first, then followed by Android ones. WP one, if any, usually comes last, or otherwise, is skipped entirely.

See? I don't see any point in bashing Android. It fills the gap where WP is unable to reach. But also there is such place WP gets where Android could not match. Why not take the best from both? Neither is anywhere near perfection.

I was a huge Android basher, and with good reason. The force closes, lags, etc. made me feel I was still on PalmOS. But I recently used an HTC Sensation with a stock ICS ROM and I was truly impressed. Everything worked as it should and I didn't even bother rooting it to get the hotspot working without T-Mobile's permission as well as the BT PAN for connecting to my iPad 3. Unfortunately, even the best Android keyboards on the largest screens aren't as user-friendly as the WP7/8 VKB's. Heck, even the iPhone KB is better on a 3-1/2" screen. Fix the keyboard before MS puts in decent BT profiles and I may have a second look.

Oh yes, the HTC sensation is a very nice device...you should have seen that device when it was running sense 3.0 and ginger bread 2.3...it was completely unmatched and felt like a whole different operating system.

I miss sense 3.0 and ginger bread.

Currently I'm using an HTC EVO 3D running sense 3.6 and ics (its basically an HTC sensation (same year, slightly higher price) with a 3D camera but is just not as reliable)

Android has improved so much since it's pre-ICS days. The multi-core processors make such a HUGE differences in the way Android runs. I will not say smooth, I do not think it will ever be smooth, but whatever glitches remain are more often due to OEM UI's then on Android itself. Problem is, pure Google handsets are few and far between. And that leave 97% of them with some kind of quirk that makes them buggy somehow. Throw in stinking carrier bloat here among the US, and you have what should be a device that works well ending up being kinda of a crap shoot.

I would be fine with Android, I am just glad I do not have to be. For what I do with a phone, WP just kicks Google's adopted child's tush. MS designed WP to be built from performance up, adding features as they go. Android had tons and tons of features, and has been struggling to get performance right ever since. I would rather have a phone do a little less, but do it all right as opposed to having a phone do everything... sorta.

I support both Windows and Android. Was using 920 just bought Moto x because I was getting bored. In a year I'll probably go back to Windows. They both have their pros and cons. I will say this, nothing and o mean nothing beats Windows keypad! Love it

I've always considered Google/ Android products to be 'Crayon on the back of used paper' quality to begin with. However, they've made themselves big like Walmart by offering stuff at the lowest prices (mainly free) on their phones & web applications. I guess that makes the crashes of many apps palatable (and you can always delete one and try out any of 3 dozen that are behind it in the queue).

BUT like Yahoo- whose calendar is unusable, sports page is unreadable, fantasy soccer is pathetically unmanageable- Google has embraced the trend of taking features out of apps and programs, making them less user friendly, making their 6th grade level appearance even less aesthetic, making their UI's more simple and pathetic, and reducing the reliability of already marginal products.

Case in point: My wife & I were driving home from some outlets across the CT/NY border. I punched my home address into the NEW UPGRADED Google Maps (where there used to be a separate navigation program that was much simpler to use) to get an idea of how long the drive would be. There were two possible ways to go home and Google chose the one that probably had the worse traffic, so I decided I'd go the other direction and Google Maps would figure it out and show me the updated time home.

Oh no! Mr. Google Maps insisted that I drive up the road 13 miles, turn around and come back to the route suggested. Hmmm..... Maybe it will correct itself when I'm heading east.

I don't think so! says Mr. GMaps. You must drive to the next exit, turn around, head south the 13 miles you just came and go home the way I told you to!! You will now take over 90 minutes to get home infidel!!!!

But Mr GMaps. If I drive up a few more miles We'll pass through the tolls and be closer to the CT border!

NO! You must obey the wisdom of the the almighty NEW UPGRADED Google Maps.

As we drove on, the almighty processing power of Google made minor concessions, but always diverted me south to the route it insisted was correct.

Surely it corrected itself as you got closer to home?

Ummmm..... No.....

Each exit we passed gave GMaps another opportunity to creatively outline how we needed to turn around and go back to the route it chose for us with the time to home bumping up with each iteration. Resetting the GPS had no effect as it popped right back into the same route. At the end of our exit ramp, 12 miles from home it insisted we make an illegal u-turn and get right back on the highway.

As we drove home on the last remaining road, each road we passed enabled Google to choose roads I never even new existed to make our way back to the highway. As we passed the last possible turn off before crossing over the dam for the last 6 miles home Google decided it had enough and simply mapped out a route that drove past my house, got on the highway it wanted me to take, went 65 miles to the spot we started at, turned around and took me home the way it wanted.

Glorious......

Deciding which phone I am going to keep when I cancel one of my two lines in the very near future is no longer difficult at all. Goodbye Android. Enjoy ebay. I'll be keeping the Nokia. *****.

I've always considered Google/ Android products to be 'Crayon on the back of used paper' quality to begin with. However, they've made themselves big like Walmart by offering stuff at the lowest prices (mainly free) on their phones & web applications. I guess that makes the crashes of many apps palatable (and you can always delete one and try out any of 3 dozen that are behind it in the queue).

BUT like Yahoo- whose calendar is unusable, sports page is unreadable, fantasy soccer is pathetically unmanageable- Google has embraced the trend of taking features out of apps and programs, making them less user friendly, making their 6th grade level appearance even less aesthetic, making their UI's more simple and pathetic, and reducing the reliability of already marginal products.

Case in point: My wife & I were driving home from some outlets across the CT/NY border. I punched my home address into the NEW UPGRADED Google Maps (where there used to be a separate navigation program that was much simpler to use) to get an idea of how long the drive would be. There were two possible ways to go home and Google chose the one that probably had the worse traffic, so I decided I'd go the other direction and Google Maps would figure it out and show me the updated time home.

Oh no! Mr. Google Maps insisted that I drive up the road 13 miles, turn around and come back to the route suggested. Hmmm..... Maybe it will correct itself when I'm heading east.

I don't think so! says Mr. GMaps. You must drive to the next exit, turn around, head south the 13 miles you just came and go home the way I told you to!! You will now take over 90 minutes to get home infidel!!!!

But Mr GMaps. If I drive up a few more miles We'll pass through the tolls and be closer to the CT border!

NO! You must obey the wisdom of the the almighty NEW UPGRADED Google Maps.

As we drove on, the almighty processing power of Google made minor concessions, but always diverted me south to the route it insisted was correct.

Surely it corrected itself as you got closer to home?

Ummmm..... No.....

Each exit we passed gave GMaps another opportunity to creatively outline how we needed to turn around and go back to the route it chose for us with the time to home bumping up with each iteration. Resetting the GPS had no effect as it popped right back into the same route. At the end of our exit ramp, 12 miles from home it insisted we make an illegal u-turn and get right back on the highway.

As we drove home on the last remaining road, each road we passed enabled Google to choose roads I never even new existed to make our way back to the highway. As we passed the last possible turn off before crossing over the dam for the last 6 miles home Google decided it had enough and simply mapped out a route that drove past my house, got on the highway it wanted me to take, went 65 miles to the spot we started at, turned around and took me home the way it wanted.

Glorious......

Deciding which phone I am going to keep when I cancel one of my two lines in the very near future is no longer difficult at all. Goodbye Android. Enjoy ebay. I'll be keeping the Nokia. *****.

I tried going back to android for a few days and it was a drag.... I spent a few hours trying to not messed up my root and try to get the best performance out of my HTC One. I gotta say they have the best OEMs to take care of their great build quality but I've been trying to be careful of the ram I've used and the battery usage all blablabla.

Just switched my sim card to the 820 today. Love this WP8. Even though I love to tweak stuffs and all. Windows Phone has one of the best indie developers like Rudy Huyn. Best optimistic community. If you have ever gotten used to an WP8, every bit of going back to Android annoys you.

Hmm low end android are waste if u do not know rooting.if u know rooting nd use ram expander.even low end android can be usable but not smooth as wp8. On the hindsight you will miss newest nd greatest title in games nd apps.android is poor man's ios.that's why it is rampant across the world.android is for geeks wp8 for layman.smooth out of the box.those who bash android are not geeks as far I know.this is my experience with using low end android phone like lava iris 458q.many will not agree.it's just my opinion

Hmm low end android are waste if u do not know rooting.if u know rooting nd use ram expander.even low end android can be usable but not smooth as wp8. On the hindsight you will miss newest nd greatest title in games nd apps.android is poor man's ios.that's why it is rampant across the world.android is for geeks wp8 for layman.smooth out of the box.those who bash android are not geeks as far I know.this is my experience with using low end android phone like lava iris 458q.many will not agree.it's just my opinion

Sent from my C2305 using WPCentral Forums mobile app

I'm a big big big geek, and i love love love wp8 and i indulge in lots of android bashing with my android-using friends ! Maybe i dont fit your trend :-P. What i think, wp is for people who want something different, and classy. Android isn't classy at all !

Hmm low end android are waste if u do not know rooting.if u know rooting nd use ram expander.even low end android can be usable but not smooth as wp8. On the hindsight you will miss newest nd greatest title in games nd apps.android is poor man's ios.that's why it is rampant across the world.android is for geeks wp8 for layman.smooth out of the box.those who bash android are not geeks as far I know.this is my experience with using low end android phone like lava iris 458q.many will not agree.it's just my opinion

Sent from my C2305 using WPCentral Forums mobile app

Android poor mans ios??? Nnnnnno.

Ios is...dated, seriously ios uses static icons as a home screen. The only thing that makes ios stand out is safari browser. android is much better...Perhaps just less consistent in some regards.

Though Android has definitely degraded over the years. Currently gingerbread is the best version of Android, anything newer and you will get very familiar with this message;

Compared to gingerbread (dates back to 2010, perhaps even 2009) these new versions of Android get better benchmarks but also eat up many more resources. You can easily run gingerbread on 256MB RAM as long as you don't leave to many large apps running. Try that with kitkat...